Friday, July 20, 2007

Max Blumenthal at the College Republican National Convention

On July 13, 2007, I visited Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, where the bodies of American soldiers killed in Iraq were freshly interred. Afterwards, I headed across the street to the Sheraton National Hotel, owned by right-wing Korean cult leader Sun Myung-Moon, to meet some of the war's most fervent supporters at the College Republican National Convention....Yet when I asked these College Repulicans why they were not participating in this historical cause, they immediately went into contortions. Asthma. Bad knees from playing catcher in high school. "Medical reasons." "It's not for me." These were some of the excuses College Republicans offered for why they could not fight them "over there." Like the current Republican leaders who skipped out on Vietnam, the GOP's next generation would rather cheerlead from the sidelines for the war in Iraq while other, less privileged young men and women fight and die.

I would just like to respond to this post.

Our military is voluntary for a reason. It insures that all members have a desire to be there. This is the major reason it is the best military force in the world. I know you may dispute that fact but it is truly the best.

Some people in society are "cut out" for the military and some are not. The fact that members of the Convention are not serving or planning to serve is moot. Would you serve in Afghanistan? I doubt it, even though the Democrats are saying we should be there.

Myself, I served in the US Navy aboard the USS West Virginia, SSBN 736. I have the distinct honor of being a plank owner of this wonderful submarine. I was a Missile Technician assigned to work on the Trident II D-5 Nuclear Missile. When you are a few hundred feet below the ocean's surface it is important that every man aboard that ship wants to be there. The Navy can not assign you to a submarine either. You have to volunteer for that too.

Let me make another point. I was not "less privileged". I had every opportunity to go to college. I decided the Navy was where I belonged.

All in all I spent well over a year underwater to ensure that people like this could go around and act like idiots.